Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation puts Ireland’s future at a crossroads

The Taoiseach’s sudden departure raises many questions about how the country will face the years ahead, writes Caitlin White. With multiple crises and a general election looming, Ireland’s next step is crucial

Yesterday Leo Varadkar announced he is to step down as taoiseach and as leader of his party, Fine Gael (PA)

My first encounter with Leo Varadkar, then minister for health, at an artsy rave in Dublin in 2015 marked the beginning of a recurring theme that would define his influence in my life. Both of us avoiding the dancefloor, I attempted to make polite conversation, but he had little interest. Little did I know then his disinterest in what I, an Irish woman in her early twenties trying to start my adult life in Ireland, had to say would become a recurring feature of his political career.

Varadkar assumed office as taoiseach in 2017, amidst the tumultuous years of Donald Trump’s presidency and the early stages of Brexit negotiations under Theresa May. To the outside world, as the first openly gay, half-Indian, youngest taoiseach, he symbolised Ireland’s openness and liberalism.

However, within Ireland, his leadership style, advocating for “people who get up early in the morning” and endorsing neoliberal policies was, for those outside of the middle and upper classes, far from reassuring. The zeal with which he embraced his campaign against welfare fraud as minister for social protection had exposed classist and privileged attitudes that seemed out of touch for a minister with his brief.